After being traded to the Toronto Raptors before the deadline and subsequently waived,
the Point God has called it quits. Chris Paul retires second on the all-time list for career
assists (12,552), just behind Johnson Stockton (15,806). Paul is sure to be a first ballot
Hall of Famer (although who really knows these days), but where does he rank all-time,
when compared to the greatest point guards in NBA history?
Career Averages
When considering a player’s all-time greatness, it’s better to look at their career
averages, rather than their career totals. Otherwise, a player like Kevin Durant, who has
played 1,173 career games, looks like a better scorer than Wilt Chamberlain, who
played 1,045 (Chamberlain averaged 30.1 points per game for his career, to Durant’s
27,2). What could muddy the waters is career All-League awards, but there is no “per
game’ for those accolades.
Over the course of his 21-year career in the league (1,370 games), Paul averaged 16.8
points, 9.2 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. He made 11 AIl-NBA teams, 12 All-Star
games, and 9 All-Defense teams. It’s really his defense that sets him apart from other
players on the all-time list, since for the bulk of his career, Paul was a lockdown
defender.
Getting it out of the way early, the greatest point guard of all time is Magic Johnson.
Though he was never considered the defender that Paul was, Magic controlled the
game better than anyone, and along with averaging 11.2 assists per game, Magic could
score from anywhere, playing any position. He finished his career averaging 19.5 points
per game. He was also a 12-time all-star, 10-time All-NBA, and won a gold medal on the
greatest basketball team ever assembled.
Second and third all-time is where it gets interesting. There are a number of different
players who could be considered for a number of different reasons. For today, those two
slots will be filled by Oscar Robertson and Steph Curry. The Big O is most famous for
being the first player ever to average a triple-double for a season (1961-62), and
narrowly missed in 1963-64 (missed by 7 total rebounds). His career averages of 25.7
points, 7.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists are insane as well. He was a 12-time All-Star and
11-time AII-NBA, but did not make a defensive team, since the league did not record
steals and blocks until 1973-74.
Curry is interesting because the way he plays the game is more like a shooting guard
who brings the ball up. He is more of a scorer than someone who controls the tempo of
the game. Despite this variation, he is still widely regarded as a point guard, so he
comes in third all-time. He is an 11-time AII-NBA and 11-time All-Star. He has never
been All-Defense, but he has been the MVP of the league twice, and he has four rings
(which should never be the sole determining factor in a player’s greatness). Paul would
slide in at fourth all-time, ahead of players like Isiah Thomas, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash,
and John Stockton.
Stockton may be the most controversial to put behind Paul, especially considering he is
the NBA‘s all-time leader in assists. What more could someone ask for from a point
guard? The deciding factor here was the number of all-defensive teams. Stockton was a
great defender (evidenced by his all-time steals), but he made the All-Defensive team
just five times to Paul’s 9. It was close, and if someone wanted to go Stockton fourth
and Paul fifth, that would be fine.
Nash and Kidd were not even close, despite Nash having two MVPs and Kidd having a
championship. Their numbers were inferior to Paul’s, and so were their accolades. This
is especially true of Nash, who was a matador defender.
Chris Paul Retires In The Top Five
When all is said and done, there will no doubt be debate about the exact order, but what
should not be in doubt is that Chris Paul is an all-time great player and point guard. He
will get his orange jacket in Springfield five years from now. For some of the younger
basketball fans out there, Paul is the greatest point guard they have ever seen. In terms
of the overall history of the game, he’s in the top five.
